Building My First Rig

[joel_spencer]

I've got the Coolermaster 330 with side window and it's a fairly good case, think it's slightly bigger than the Antec 300 but maybe lacks a couple of the features.
With a black edition though it's almost a certainty that you can overclock the 940 to the 955 speeds and the performance increase isn't worth the price for that reason.

[Xanuel]

Hey guys... Thanks for all the info, the Antec 300 sounds really good performance wise but doesn't look that great from what I've seen... If it's the best option I'll go with it, I was browsing around Hexus and found a company that seem to do some nice cases, wondered if any had used or heard of them and if they're any good? The one in particular that I was looking at was this:

http://www.enermax.co.uk/products/cases/phoenixneo?L=2

I was originally trying to find the Staray case but no where seems to sell it.

[joel_spencer]

Think it just lacks the top 140 and side 120, though you can always customise the coolermaster elite 330.

[marksct]

im probably going to do a similar build and was going to go am3/ddr3 so the cpu could be upgraded at a later date?

is this not a good idea? or will future am3 cpu's also be supported by am2+?

[Xanuel]

im probably going to do a similar build and was going to go am3/ddr3 so the cpu could be upgraded at a later date?

is this not a good idea? or will future am3 cpu's also be supported by am2+?

Hey man, from what I've gathered, AM2+ mobo's support am3, they usually say they do anyway. I was gonna get an AM3 board so I could use DDR3, but I was told it's not really worth it at the current time... dunno though, sure some pros will get back to you on that one.

[Vimeous]

Enermax have reputation for high quality if expensive PSU's.
The most recent Enermax case review I've seen (can't find it atm) suggested they are certainly capable of building a decent budget case.
However this review (http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/23803...hoenixneo.html) suggests you'll have to spend a little extra to get it cooling your system properly.

You're right the both Antec 300 and RC-590 are not lookers but the RC-690 has more style.
This Lian-Li (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Lian-...luminium-Black) is a similar price. I've no idea how it performs but their reputation is good and the looks might be more your thing.
That said the Antec and Coolermasters offer a stack load more cooling if it's needed.

[scaryjim]

All AM3 CPUs will fit in an AM2 motherboard - that's the way it's been designed. Whether the motherboard manufacturers will keep updating the BIOS to recognise newer AM3 CPUs is debatable, although I would expect them to support the current batch of Mobos for a couple of years at least. Also, it's not the end of the world if your Mobo doesn't officially support a new CPU - they quite often run OK anyway (I had this with a number of Socket A Semprons back in the day and the PCs ran fine even without a BIOS update).

[Xanuel]

Thanks a lot for all of your input guys, very much appreciated. Finally decided on my complete build so I'm gonna start ordering parts and get to it! I'll let ya know how it goes... xD